Kwaito music star Mandoza was an important symbolic figure in the post-apartheid cultural scene. His success and his refusal to relinquish his tsotsi identity redefined what kind of man could be respected in a free South African.

Why should African graduates be honoured with a Latin song when the continent has plenty of its own music and ways of celebrating?
Direct Relief/FlickrNovember 26, 2015

While the debate seems not to be solvable, three academics look at the question of whether artists should provide entertainment or write for their own pleasure.

In a track called Bring it Back Home, Hugh Masekela bemoans the tendency by politicians, who after ascending to power, discard the people who helped them get there.
Andrea De Silva/ReutersAugust 14, 2015

Concert organisers began to compete for government contracts. Often these contracts came with conditions as to who, among musicians, was desirable at government events.

South Africa’s Oppikoppi music festival in the town of Northam, Limpopo has come to represent the aspirations of a generation which embraces the diversity of the country’s peoples and their respective music.
Nikita Ramkissoon/The ConversationAugust 6, 2015